


Form of a Child

by leosiamajor, SapphireQueen



Category: Marvel, X-Men (Movies), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Baby Lorna, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Erik and Emma are BFF's, Family Feels, Family Fluff, M/M, Married Cherik, Protective Erik, dadneto, protective Charles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-02 14:36:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4063630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leosiamajor/pseuds/leosiamajor, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireQueen/pseuds/SapphireQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: This is a completely canon divergent, fluff ridden, sweet and adorable AU completely surrounding Erik and Charles as fathers in a modern setting. </p><p>---</p><p>This had been a long time coming. They’d been waiting for months and months and months to see their little girl and now they were finally able to bring her home. It would be all smooth sailing from here … Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bringing Home Baby

_“Raising a child whether yours or not, is being anointed or chosen by God to be the guardian of his kingdom in a form of a child.”_

  **April 30, 2015**

Erik had never been so nervous in his life. He had been through so much in his twenty eight years and very little truly shook him. However, today he was a bundle of nerves. It had only been two days since she'd been in the world. Logically Erik knew it was fine. Lorna had come out healthy. Seven pounds, six ounces and loud as a bull horn. The delivery had been fairly quick and their surrogate hadn't reported any more than the usual discomfort. She was healthy. She was all theirs … and Erik was terrified.

She looked so small, sleeping there in her car seat beside him. He'd opted to ride in the back seat while Charles drove home and he was hovering over her seat, watching her every tiny movement. He watched as her little chest rose and fell, watched her little hands curled against her body. She looked so tiny, fragile and he wondered how in the hell he was really and truly going to be caring for this helpless little person. Scared as he was, he knew he loved her and incompetent as he felt, he'd do anything he could for her.

“Darling," Charles voice cut through the silence as he stopped them at a red light. Erik could see his gaze in the rearview mirror. "I don't mean to be rude, but you're giving me a headache."

Erik winced. He knew Charles was sensitive, that it was probable he could feel Erik's intense, rather overwhelming thoughts pouring into him like a stab wound. Erik was sure that wasn’t necessarily helpful when Charles probably felt just as wrecked. "Sorry, sorry." He said, sitting back, still watching Lorna out of the corner of his eye. "I just ..." He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face, feeling the warm metal of his wedding band against his skin for a moment. "She's finally here and I swear I felt so ready three days ago. I've read just about every book and we've talked and talked this over." He blew out through his nose.

"If it makes you feel any better," Charles said as he kept on driving when the light turned green. "You're doing better than I am. The only thing keeping me sane right now is actually focusing on the road."

"Why doesn't anybody warn you that no matter how ready you feel you're not ready?" Erik asked helplessly. He froze when Lorna made a little noise in her sleep, but moments later she settled back in, closing her eyes and falling deeper into sleep.

Charles sighed as he parked near their apartment. "Good thing we got the room and everything else done before she got home."

Erik nodded his head and slowly unbuckled himself before moving to get the car seat undone. "Thank god. I can't imagine worrying about paint and shit -" He paused, looking sideways at Charles before shrugging it off. Both of them were likely to curse and she probably wouldn't understand anyway. He slipped out of the car, slowly carrying her out then.

Holding in his laughter, Charles grabbed the baby stuff they’d packed into the car and opened the door for Erik. "Do you think she'll sleep much?"

"Everything we read said she won't start sleeping through the whole night for a few months ... but that she'll nap a hell of a lot during the day." He said, stepping inside and letting Charles follow him in. He adjusted her in his arms and looked around, carrying her as if she were made of spun sugar.

"We're here, little one." Erik murmured. "Your new home."

"That's the living room," Charles said, pointing towards it. "That's the kitchen, your room, our office and our room." He said, pointing to each door. "So, we going to be, like, Dad #1 and Dad #2?"

Erik snorted in amusement, holding her safely against his chest. "I can't believe we never talked about that." He moved to sit on the couch. "How did we never bring that up?" He shook his head a little and thought about it for a moment. "Well ... That might get confusing if we're both 'Dad' don't you think?" He asked.

"With how horrible we are at taking decisions, poor Lorna will be stuck on an endless loop of 'Ask your Dad, first'." He replied, laughing softly, following to the couch and looking at their daughter in Erik's arms.

Erik smoothed some of her hair away from her forehead. "Well, what if you were Dad then and I will be..." He shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Papa?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Papa?" Charles repeated, smiling soflty. "I like that, did you call your Dad that?"

Erik shook his head. "No, we spoke almost entirely German at home actually." He said. "I called him ' _vatti_ '." He murmured. "At least from what I remember." He said thoughtfully. His father had passed away when he was younger but the memories he had were good ones.

He took Erik's free hand and kissed the back of it softly. "Papa Erik it is, then," He said softly, running a finger through Lorna's green hair. "I love her hair, it's so beautiful."

Erik nodded his head, looking positively proud. She most certainly had inherited the gene from them. "Mm, I wonder when she'll start to show what she can do." He remarked. Of course she was just an infant. It would likely be a while.

"We can't be thinking about that now," He chided, smiling. "Although, we can't help but wonder..."

"Of course we're going to wonder." Erik countered. "But it could be a while. Mine didn't show up until I was fourteen or so." He shrugged. "You said yours didn't until you were about twelve." He doubted the hair was the extent of her mutation. There was always more to it than that.

"Eleven, leaning to twelve." He corrected. "As much as I love my mutation, a small part of me hopes she doesn't get it. It was so terrifying hearing all of those voices at once."

"To be fair, it was new to you, and neither of your parents were mutants." Erik pointed out. "If she does have telepathy, she'll have you to show her how to take care of herself." He said with what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "Though I wouldn't mind teaching her what I can do." He admitted. So he was a little vain in that respect ...

Charles laughed in reply. "I am confident that you wouldn't," He said. "Guess we'll have to wait and see. Who knows? Maybe she could have an entirely different mutation."

Erik nodded. "That's possible." He admitted. "The surrogate was not one of us." He pointed out. "So she's not getting it from there ... I don't think anyway." He shrugged as much as he could with the baby in his arms. They didn't know which sample they'd used for her, which of them was the father, and he was alright with that. "I suppose we'll find out whenever we find out." He tensed then when she woke, giving a little whine in his arms.

Charles' mouth shut when Lorna whined a bit, his heart nearly stopping. "Okay, okay, you're good," He said calmly, looking at how she stirred a bit and softly opened her eyes.

Though she was waking, she didn't cry. Instead she shifted a bit in Erik's arms, making another little noise and yawning again. He swore his heart melted at the simple sight of that. Years of activism, of protesting in the streets, combating unfair policies and fighting ... and he was instantly melted by the simple sleepy yawn of a baby.

"We're getting soft," Charles joked, wiping a tear away from the corner of his eyes. erik couldn’t argue with that. This little baby was theirs, and they had a home, and they were a family now. He knew he had to mean a great deal to Charles too. Years of growing up in that cold Xavier mansion, all leading up to this; a true family. "She's beautiful,"

Erik nodded his head in agreement. He might have teased Charles about the tears were it something else. Once Charles had teared up during a Disney movie and Erik had teased him mercilessly. But this was something else entirely. "She is." He agreed and turned to him. "Here, your turn." He offered. He'd been hovering the entire time at the hospital, nervous any time a nurse or doctor touched her but now she was here and safe and just with them.

Charles looked as if his heart might have stopped. "A-Are you sure?" He asked nervously After all he’d never held a baby before in his life.

"She's yours too." Erik murmured. "You haven't held her yet. And if I'm the only one who holds her I'm absolutely going to be favorite father." He teased, placing her gently in Charles' arms. He wasn't exactly the expert either - the nurses at the hospital had shown him how to do it.

"Okay," He said under his breath. "Okay, okay, okay," He kept repeating as Erik placed her in his arms. When he finally managed the correct manner, he sighed in relief, but maintained his firm stance. "Hi, baby, I'm daddy."

Erik moved to sit close. So many saw him as standoffish but when it came to those he was close to he just couldn't keep his hands to himself. Well, at least with Charles. He kissed his cheek while he watched Lorna settle in Charles' arms. "I can't believe she's ours." He murmured.

"Neither can I," Charles said, not taking his eyes off of Lorna but leaning in to Erik's kiss. "Remember when we were fighting about the name?"

"Because you wanted terrible names." Erik insisted, rolling his eyes. "I mean, really, Charles." They'd each come up with about a thousand names each and for some time they'd outright disagreed with any name the other came up with out of spite.

"You weren't any better," Charles laughed softly. "Let's just be glad we settled on Lorna."

Erik nodded his head. "Yes." He agreed. "Better her name is something simple. I can't imagine how much more of a mouthful it would be with Xavier-Lehnsherr at the end of it all." He chuckled softly.

"Lorna Xavier-Lehnsherr," He proclaimed, the name sounding perfect to his ears. "Thank god we didn't give her a middle name."

"I mean we could think of one now if you like." Erik teased. He stretched his arm along the back of the couch behind Charles and leaned back, closing his eyes. "I'm already tired and as I hear it we'll be tired for another eighteen years." He chuckled.

"Let's put her in the crib in our room and take a nap, you know, before the storm," He suggested, struggling whether or not to stand up with the baby or not.

Erik pulled his arm back and stood up. "Not a bad idea." He held out his arms for Lorna. He knew the both of them were going to be so damn cautious over the next few weeks. He could only hope they'd panic just a little less as time passed.

Thanking Erik for taking her, Charles stood up and moved to check that the crib-- and everything else -- was ready. He heard Erik approach and smiled. "Everything's perfect for our perfect little girl."

New parents who got completely mushy over everything their children did had always baffled Erik. Really, children were fine and all but what was so amazing about a sleeping baby? Now he understood. Now that it was his own little girl ... He leaned in and kissed her forehead before setting her down in the crib, grinning down at her. "Ours." He repeated.

“Let's nap, I feel like I need it desperately."

"I know what you mean. It felt like he hadn't slept in days ... Though it had really been just the last day and a half. He toed off his shoes and walked towards the bed, reaching out for Charles to pull him on to the bed as well.

Taking his heavy cardigan off and toeing off his shoes, Charles crawled near the bed, snuggling close up against his husband. "I love you," He said. "Thank you for this."

Erik put his arms around Charles and squeezed him for a moment before relaxing with the other man beside him. "Thank you." He said in return, closing his eyes. This was perfect. This was terrifying. It was so many things all at once and it was hard to believe that this was his life, but it really and truly was. He couldn't have been more grateful for it.


	2. Chapter Two: How to meet the Love of your life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Charles & Erik met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As said previously, these chapters will be posted out of order but will have the dates placed before so no one loses track. 
> 
> Guys, thank you so much for the kudos and taking the time to read it but we would really appreciate some comments, since we both have worked really hard on these. Thank you.

**August 9th, 2011**

 According to Raven’s thoughts beforehand, thescheduled protest had a better turnout than it was expected. They'd been organizing it for weeks, and as far as they were concerned they couldn't have scheduled it at a better time. Senator Kelley was making a speech here in New York on the steps of City Hall. Even better, there was a marathon and some kind of food truck rally in the city as well. The more things this protest managed to muck up the better. Charles understood the need for this to cause to make noise, for it to be an inconvenience and so far it had been just that. The mutants protesting stared down the cops, predictably lining the outside of City Hall in riot gear.

  
He didn't want the protest to turn violent of course ... But Charles was confident that they could handle it if it did. He saw what appeared to be the group leader grabbing the bull horn a blonde woman had offered him and shouted in to it. He was loud enough that honestly he didn't need the damn thing but he wanted to be heard, he could even hear it through the window. _"They want to put us on a registry!"_ He called out. _"They want to catalog us! They say it's for peace but we know what this is. It's a method of control and we won't stand for it!"_

Charles hears the words as he gets out of the taxi and pays the man, thanking him for the ride. He can't see closely who's shouting but he sure sounds passionate. "Raven," He says under breath, putting his hands on his coat pockets and nearly running up the street, “Out of all the bloody days for her to run," He mutters to himself as he shoves himself through the crowd, the rapid thuds and thoughts being thrown around nearly giving him a headache. This rally was too passionate, not that he minded. He actually would be a part of the rally himself if his little sister weren't a part. He knows Raven, and as passionate as she feels about this, which she does, she's also prone to gracefully blend into riots quickly. And he needs to find her, fast.

There were counter protesters, sure, but the crowd paid them little mind. The humans stood there with their signs, shouting about how dangerous mutants were, about the threat they posed. Charles felt off the waves of the crowd that they wanted to tear the fence apart and show them that yes, mutants could be dangerous and treating them like animals to be classified was a bad idea. He watched others milling through the crowd, once again shouting the dangers of this act. For the most part things were going well. The protesters had their signs, their chants. They were a pain but weren't illegal. And then he heard it. He knew what it was without having to look. Some of the protesters were clashing with the police by the gates. He didn't know who started it - he had a feeling it was the police - but either way he knew things weren't going to be so peaceful anymore.

As soon as things started getting violent, Charles had to block. He immediately builds his shields up to a maximum degree so he himself isn’t affected by the adrenaline and the violence. "Raven!" He shouts into the crowd, irritated that he was forced to block himself. Without his powers, it was more difficult to find Raven, since right now she could be morphed as anyone right now. "Raven!" He shouts again, ducking a swing some police man swung at a fellow mutant. As much as he wants to help, he needs to find his sister. _She's going to owe me so much when I get here out,_ He thinks.

He sees the man who had screamed into the bull horn reaching out and using his power to shove a long bike rack between the police and the crashing protesters. That only did so much. There was fighting on more sides than just at the gates now. He knew there was little he could do to calm the situation ... so he had to do the best he could to protect those around him.

 He sees the man glancing to his side and seeing Raven with two police officers in her face. One of them was trying to cuff her and the other was clearly reaching for pepper spray before she could struggle more. She was strong and the briefest flash of blue on her skin told him all he needed to know. In an instant he was between her and the cops, pulling part of the metal fence away from its frame to separate her from them.

Charles, on the other hand, was getting nowhere, the crowd was getting more and more violent and it was only as much as his shields allowed him to repel. With a crowd of this much ferocity, it was a bit more difficult keeping himself in check. He sees her being separated by the cop with a metal fence and mentally thanked anyone who was doing that. "Raven!" He screams, managing to get her attention the police man manages to grab Raven and get her on her knees... and then suddenly Charles snapped. He throws a hand out, taking control of this one man, who immediately backs away. "Get away. Now!" He says, sending him to nearly throw himself down the stairs.

By now the event was in chaos. The good news was that Senator Kelley's speech had been cancelled. There was no way they'd be risking the good Senator's neck, not with all the angry mutants around. The crowd was dreading hearing the press coverage which would no doubt focus on the outbreak and not on the organized protests or on the unfairness of the bill. Charles sees how the main protester suddenly felt a hard hit to his back and quickly rounded, in pain but angry when he saw the officer who'd hit him.

After that little display, Charles runs towards Raven, who is getting up. 

"I know, I know," She says, wiping her knees. "I shouldn't have left the apartment, but Charles, this was supposed to be a peaceful march."   
  
He considers laughing, looking around, he says. "Bloody good that did."   
  
He watches her roll her eyes. "Come on, let's get out of here," She says, taking his hand.

The other man used more of the fence to get rid of the cop who was after him and ran after Raven, looking at Charles.

"You -" He said, panting a little. "You're a telepath?" He asked. "I saw what you did ... with the officer." He glanced back at the blonde woman who was doing her best to calm things down but she was only one person. "Can you help?" He asked. "People are getting hurt."

Charles looks at them and makes a quick decision, he looks back at Raven. "Go straight to the apartment, okay. I don't wanna hear another word about it," He says, and before she has time to protest, another man's scream was heard, and the crowd seemed to get more ecstatic, nodding, Raven turns and changes into a police uniform, to see if it was easier to get out. He runs towards the man and the blonde. "What do you need?" He asks, fending off a guard before he could get to the woman.

"Just ... help her." He says, waving his hands vaguely. His powers were quite physical. "Ask her." 

She turned to the men just long enough to see what they were talking about. "I'm calming down anyone who I can touch the mind of." She said simply. Cops. Protesters. It didn't matter. If she could calm them down, the hope was that the fighting would stop. "I'm implanting the suggestion to go home."

"Sounds like a plan," Charles replies, turning around to fend off some cops that were heading straight towards them. He reaches a hand out. _Go home,_ He demands the three of them at the same time. _Watch some tv, take a nap, just get out_. He says, with a quick flick of his wrist, he manages to drive home those three plus seven more.

 Between the woman’s efforts and Charles' the crowd slowly began to disperse. It was the civilians who left, protesters and counter protesters and bystanders alike. Finally the cops began to disperse; more concerned about the command in their heads than driving away the lingering crowd. When they were gone the metallokinetic let out a breath. "Thank god." He murmured.

Charles leans forward, resting his hands on his knees, taking a deep breath. Using that much energy always seemed to drain him. He takes a deep breath. "I thought they'd never leave,"

The other mutant made a little noise in the back of his throat, finally registering how painful his back was. He was almost certain the back of his head had been nicked though he didn't feel too pained there. "Thank god." He patted them both on the backs. "Thank you." He said to Charles, giving a tight smile.

Struggling to lean back up, Charles does and sighs. "Welcome," He says, taking a break. "I'm Charles," He introduces himself.

The man reaches out with his hand. "Erik." He said, shaking Charles' hand firmly.

With the full force of his strength down, Charles manages to catch that fleeting thought of _woah, his eyes are beautifully blue_ on accident. He blushes faintly but tries to ignore it. "Hey," He says, before hearing someone yell and sees a cop ganging up near Erik to cuff him, Charles nearly had time himself to warn before being forced on his knees and cuffed himself. "What the fuck?" He says outloud.

Erik didn't look as bothered as someone being arrested should have. "It's fine." He said, unphased. This wasn't his first time being arrested after all, apparently. "We'll be out in twelve hours." He waved it off.

"Twelve hours?" He asks incredulously. "What are they even taking us in for?"

Erik shook his head. It was pointless to say a whole lot while they were being carted off. He nodded to Emma who was also being arrested by a female officer. "See you later." He called to her and nodded to Charles. "It'll be fine."

 _These people were insane_ , Charles concluded. He didn't care how attractive they were, they were insane. He's shoved into the back of a police car next to Erik. "Great," He says sarcastically. "What happens now?"

"They'll take us in." Erik said calmly. "Book us. And then just leave us in the holding cell for hours and then they'll let most of us go." He paused. "The organization I work for has a bail relief fund." He explained.

With an eyebrow marked so incredibly high, Charles wants to laugh, but only manages a small chuckle. "This isn't exactly how I thought I'd end the day when I woke up this morning,"

"There are worse ways to end the day." Erik remarked with a casual shrug of his shoulders. Of course there probably weren't many of them but things could be worse than sitting in a cop car with a very attractive young man beside him.

Charles considers making a remark on how this isn't how he usually goes about being tied up, but decides against it. He was exhausted. He leans his head back and sighs as the cop got in the front seat and drove towards the station. "So, I assume you organized this?" 

"I did." Erik confirmed with a little nod. "Well, I helped. The organization I work for does events like this all the time around the city." He insisted. "You should come next time." He offered. "I'd give you my card but uh ..." He wriggled his cuffed hands.

"If memory serves me right," He says, straightening again and grinning at Erik. "We'll spend a while together so why don't you just run me down the details when we're stuck in the same cell?" 

  
He thinks Erik's smile is one of the most beautiful things he's ever seen.   
  
_Thank you, Raven._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For clarification in this chapter, Raven is 16, Charles is 22, Erik and Emma are 24.


	3. Stumpy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s not that insane to be getting a second dog in a home that has four children, right? … Right? Aka, Charles and Erik undergo the arduous task of rewarding their children with a new puppy after a successful quarter in the second grade.

April 15, 2019

 

It was just after six thirty when Pietro's voice cut through the silence in the house. The sun was just barely up when he shot out of bed - he had mercifully slept on his own the previous night - and right in to his fathers' room. "Today's the day!" He yelled in their doorway. "Dad! Papa! Wake up! Today is puppy day!" His voice was loud, not hiding any of the excitement he felt at the prospect of getting the new puppy he and Wanda had worked so hard for. They'd had to get straight A's and both of them had done it with flying colors. 

 

Erik groaned quietly into his pillow. "Tell me I'm dreaming this." He muttered to Charles, moving on to his stomach so he could hide his face in his pillow. He was certainly glad the twins were excited for the puppy, and he had no doubt by now all the children were up ... But he really would have liked just an hour more to sleep.

  
"You are not," Charles mumbled back. sitting up by the headboard. "God, my eyes are still glued shut." He ran both hands through his face and hair and sighed. 

 

"Pietro!" Wanda exclaimed, pulling her brother by the shirt when he entered the room. "Let them get ready!" 

 

Charles smiled at them. "We'll be down for breakfast, darlings. Go wake your brother and sister up, they're coming with us too." He looked at Pietro and held up a finger. "Wake them up /gently/." When he heard the pitter patter of feet run down the hall, Charles turned to find Erik still on his stomach. He leans down and kisses the back of his left shoulder. "Come on, love, we have a whole day ahead of us."

 

Erik was vaguely aware of Pietro's voice trying hard not to shout too loudly as he burst into Lorna's room and then David's. He could hear Mendel in the hallway, claws skidding on the hardwood floor as he tried to keep up with the kids running around. He made a little noise and pressed his face in to the pillow one last time before sitting up. "Yes, I suppose we do." He agreed. He finally sat up and stretched his arms over his head, forcing himself to wake up a little more. "Do you want to get Lorna dressed while I get them breakfast?" He asked. The older children were fine at dressing themselves but she still needed help. 

 

"You never let me step foot in that kitchen anyway," He grinned, managing to steal a quick peek to his cheek before stretching and putting his bathrobe on. 

 

Erik chuckled. "Because I don't want our family poisoned." He reminded. He stood up then and pulled on his own robe. He rubbed one hand through his hair, trying to collect his thoughts for the day. The kids were damn excited and he knew it would be hard to keep up with them if he didn't wake himself up in a hurry. So he shuffled down to the kitchen, hearing the older three kids already banging around down there trying to get the breakfast table set and Mendel fed.

 

Charles headed out the room and into Lorna's, who sat on the floor, looking at her closet. "Need any help, Lorna?" 

 

She turned and smiled at him. "Daddy I wanna wear the blue dress!" She said enthusiastically, holding her arms up. Charles leaned down to pick her up and carried her over look through the closet. For a four year old, she was still really light on her feet. 

 

"The one with the yellow dots or the completely blue one?" 

 

"Dots!" 

 

He sat her on the bed and rummaged through her closet to find the special dress, this one Moira had gotten her for her birthday a couple of weeks ago and Lorna was in love with it. "Come on, baby. Up your arms so Daddy can help you." 

 

With a huge grin that she definitely inherited from her Papa, Lorna flung her arms up  to let Daddy dress her.

 

Downstairs, Erik had already begun his task. It was easy enough to get breakfast started. The kids were usually eager to help him on Saturday mornings, so he set Wanda to microwaving bacon for the rest of the family. He didn't eat it himself, but the children and Charles wanted it so he didn't mind making sure it was there. He had Pietro cutting up whatever fruit he could manage with a dull butter knife while he had David helping him with cracking open the eggs for everyone.

 

"Alright," Charles said, walking into the kitchen with a dressed Lorna trailing behind him, taking her seat on the table. "As soon as we're done, everyone get dressed and we'll meet in the living room when done."

 

Erik leaned in to give Charles a kiss when the other man walked by. "Help Pietro with the fruit, will you?" He asked. He didn't quite trust their oldest not to make a mess.

 

Gently kissing back, Charles smiled as he walked over to where Pietro was standing, his hands covered in the juice the fruit let out. "What do we have here?"

 

"Watermelon." Pietro replied simply. There was juice on his hands and his face. More melon had made it into his mouth than into the bowl.

 

"Well it look like you’ve already had some breakfast," Charles chuckled, kissing the back of his son's head. "Go set the plates while I finish, alright?"

 

"I like cutting the watermelon, Daddy." Pietro insisted, sticking out his lower lip up at Charles. 

 

"Mm, that's because you like eating it before we can have some." Erik teased as he coaxed David to pour the scrambled egg mixture in to the hot skillet. He helped him stand aside then so he could attend to the eggs. "C'mon, boys, wash up and get the table set."

 

"Okay," David replied softly, getting off the footstool they had set up for him. Charles leaned down and kissed the top of his head. 

 

"Morning, David. Did you sleep well?" He asked. He always made sure to see if David was sleeping well, since he still had trouble falling asleep at night. 

 

Apparently last night he did not have any problem because he smiled wide and said: "I dreamt we took home a bunch of puppies. One of every color!" 

 

"That would be so cool!" Wanda said, carefully taking the plate out of the microwave. "Can we get more than one, Daddy?" 

 

"No, little ones," Charles said calmly, finishing up what was left of the watermelon. "We already have Mendel and the new one. Two puppies will be enough."

 

Pietro had already caught on to the idea. "No, no, we should get more! We can get - " He paused, counting each of them out loud. "Five puppies so everyone in the family has a dog!" He grinned, thinking very highly of his idea. "Papa doesn't get one though because he's the oldest and Mendel is the oldest dog." 

 

Lorna was eager for her breakfast and pounded the table with her little fists. "More puppies! More puppies!" She squealed, making Erik wince with the pitch of her voice. 

 

"As fun as five puppies would be, Daddy and I promised you all /one/ new puppy." Erik reminded firmly. "One and only one."

 

Charles smiled as he finished up, helping Erik serve all the breakfasts onto their respective plates, handing them out one by one to the kids. "Do you want coffee or tea?" He asked Erik, heading to the counter.

 

"Coffee, please." Erik said. He knew he'd need that cup and perhaps another one to keep up with the kids today. They were full of energy ... Though he had hope that Lorna and perhaps David would be able to go down for a nap later on. The twins unfortunately were far past napping.

 

"Coffee it is then," He said, turning to prepare the coffee. 

 

On the table, as the kids ate, Wanda looked up from her scrambled eyes and with a half-full mouth she asked, "Who's going to name the puppy?" 

 

David took a sip of his chocolate milk and said. "Well, it's your and Pietro's gift, do you two have a name?" 

 

Charles sat back by the table, handing Erik his coffee as he puts his plate down. "What are we talking about?"

 

Erik sat down across from Charles, reaching over to help Lorna when she got some of her eggs on her chin. "Naming the dog apparently." He said, staying out of it, interested to see how the children would work it out. 

 

"I want to name it!" Pietro shouted. "I do, I do!" He had no idea what he'd name the dog but he was positive it would be better than whatever Wanda would come up with.

 

"Why can’t I name it?" Wanda insisted. "It's not fair!" 

 

Charles sighed, ashamed at himself for not seeing this one coming from a mile away. "Do you have a name already planned, Pietro? If not, you could let Wanda try too."

 

Erik glanced briefly at Charles. "What if the two of you both try to come up with a name once we get the dog." He offered. "And the four of us can vote on it." He was hoping that might serve as enough of a compromise. "Or the two of you can brain storm together." That second idea had a snowflake's chance in hell of working but still ... It was nice to try.

 

Wanda looked at Pietro. "Fine," She says, munching down the rest other food. 

 

Once finished, Charles decided to throw most of the mess in the dishwasher as he heard them go up to change. He heard Erik rummage around the kitchen. "Put Lorna to watch some TV while we get ready," He said. "She's already dressed, I don't want her getting dirty."

 

Getting four children fed, changed and out the door was never an easy task but somehow Erik and Charles managed to do it well enough. It was a system they had down and he could still hardly believe they had it down as well as they did. Lorna was easy enough for him to work with. It had been she and Erik in the house most days while the twins and then David were in school. 

 

"Watch cartoons, okay sweetheart?" Erik asked. He kissed her hair and moved away as she replied with a half distracted, “Kay, Papa” and settled the rest of the cutlery and pans in the sink with his power. 

 

It took a good bit of time but finally both he and Charles were dressed and mostly presentable with all four kids dressed with their hair and teeth brushed. By the time they were all ready to go it was nearly ten o'clock. "Right on time." He mused.

 

"Alright," Charles said with a clap of his hands. He grabbed the backpack they always brought out with them. He always made sure he had it stocked with emergency water and snacks in case it the children got impatient. "Everyone to the van." 

 

Wanda held David's hand as they crawled in. Wanda climbed into the third row as Charles strapped Lorna into the car seat in the second. David sat next to her, buckling his seatbelt. "Do you want me to drive?" He asked, Erik, putting the backpack in the trunk.

 

Erik shook the head. "No, that's alright." Giving up his car had been ... Well it had just been awful, but he was long since used to driving the van now. With four children they really didn't have any other choice. "Alright. Ready?" He asked as Pietro zipped into the car and sat next to his twin, getting himself comfortable. The moment Charles was seated he headed the car towards their local SPCA. Getting anything other than a shelter dog really hadn't been an option for them.

 

Charles fumbled around with the radio, tuning into Wanda and Lorna's favorite song at the moment, listening to them sing along to it. The car ride was fortunately uneventful. Most of the children were too excited about the puppy to bother messing with each other for now. When Erik came around to the SPCA, he could nearly feel the car vibrating from the excitement, either that or it was Pietro. "Alright," Charles said, looking back. "What are the rules?" 

 

"Not being rude to people," David replied. 

 

"And not to touch things until we're given permission too." Wanda added. 

 

Charles looked pointedly at Pietro. "What else?"

 

Pietro sunk as low as he could in his seat until the top of his silver hair was only just visible. "No running." He muttered. It was a general rule for all of the children but for the young speedster it was especially true. 

 

"Good." Erik said with a nod. "Alright, no yelling either." He added. "You don't want to scare the puppies." He slid out of the car and let the older three out before reaching to unbuckle Lorna who immediately reached out in a grabby hands motion for Charles. "Ah, I see she's a Daddy's girl today and not a Papa's girl." He teased. On the weekends the children damn near smothered Charles because he wasn't busy with work most times.

 

"It's because I dressed her in her new favorite dress," Charles assured him, taking Lorna in his arms. 

 

Wanda led the way inside with Charles following behind her with Lorna in his arms and David at his side. He was surprised to see one of his own students working there behind the desk. "Miss Pryde, lovely to see you." 

 

She smiled at Charles. "Professor Xavier, hello!" She smiled at Lorna. "And there's little Lorna. Is these the rest of your gang?"

 

Charles laughed softly. "Yes, this is Wanda and David," He says, pointing at Wanda, who was looking at pictures of dogs and telling David the breed of the dog if she knew it. "Husband's coming in soon with Pietro, he's probably giving him water before stepping in," And right on the moment, he heard the small little bell ring, signaling that they were inside. Charles turned. "Erik, Pietro, meet Kitty. A student of mine."

 

Erik brought up the rear with Pietro, his hand on the older boy's back. "It's nice to meet you." He said smoothly, inclining his head towards Kitty with a bit of a smile. He knew she was one of Charles' favorite students. He tended to brag on the brighter, more dedicated ones in his class. "I trust you've got some puppies around?" He asked, feeling Pietro bounce on the balls of his feet in excitement.

 

"We certainly do," Kitty replied, opening the door to the back where the puppies were. The kids practically ran into it. Even Lorna got wiggly and demanded to be on the floor. "So much for no running," Charles chuckled, walking beside Erik into the pound after setting her down. 

 

Erik did have to give Pietro credit in that he ran only as fast as his brother and sisters did. But still ... They all had run. He sighed, shaking his head. "I'd scold them but they're excited." He pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before watching as the kids settled around the various cages, all pointing enthusiastically with different volumes of, "Here!” “Dads, look!” “This one! I want this one!"

 

"Okay," Charles said, running a hand through his hair. "Only Wanda and Pietro can decide, remember this is their gift." Erik briefly dreaded the argument he knew would come from the twins the moment they disagreed.

 

Wanda looked until she found a small corgi puppy that seemed to have a bit of a limp. Upon second glance they saw that one of his legs was a bit shorter than the others. "Pietro!" She called out. "Look at this one!"

 

Pietro gasped right away and ran to Wanda's side, abandoning the Great Dane he'd been eyeing. Erik had never been so grateful. "He's so cute! His legs are all stumpy." He laughed and stuck his hand through the wire so the Corgi could lick them. "Daddy, Papa can we get this one?" He asked, apparently having had decided on this particular puppy in an instant. 

 

"If that's the one you guys are positive you'd like." Erik glanced to Charles. The twins had been a little more apt to agree when they were little but now that they were the ripe old age of eight, they were beginning to decide on things more independently. 

 

"I'm surprised," Charles said, leaning next to is husband. "They agreed faster than I thought." 

 

Kitty opened the cage to allow the children to go in and pet the puppy. The Corgi was excited, barking and licking at all of them, extremely excited to be petted and have attention paid to it. "It's a boy," Kitty offered, showing Erik and Charles the card from the cage door indicating the puppy’s age, breed, sex and neutering information. . 

 

"What are you going to name him?" David asked the twins, laughing when the puppy licked at his fingers. 

 

Wanda looked at Pietro. "Jellybean? He looks like a jellybean."

 

"He's not a Jellybean." Pietro shook his head. "Jellybeans are funny colors. He's brown." He pointed out. He rubbed one of the dog's ears. "He should be Stumpy!" He laughed. 

 

Erik lifted his eyebrows at the name. It was ridiculous but ... Well it did fit the dog. "Stumpy?" He mouthed to Charles.

 

Charles bit his lower lip, trying not to laugh. He cleared his throat. "Stumpy?" He asked Pietro. "What do you think, Wanda?" 

 

Much to her fathers’ surprise, Wanda smiled. "I like it!" 

 

Erik looked just as bewildered as Charles but the twins had agreed on the name and he wasn't going to complain about it. He looked over to Kitty and shrugged. "Well, I guess we'll be taking Stumpy home." Honestly he was bewildered that they'd actually selected and named a dog just after arriving. It was never that easy with the kids.

 

Kitty laughed softly as she directed the parents back to the desk. "Don't worry," She told them softly as she handed them the paperwork. "I've heard much worse names." 

 

Charles shook his head in relief as he signed the papers. "Stumpy," He repeated. "Where does he get that?"

 

Erik shook his head. "I have no idea. He watches a lot of weird cartoons though." He shrugged thinking perhaps that was the culprit. Behind them he could hear the puppy's barking as the kids all played with their new dog. Well, at least it seemed energetic enough to keep up with all four of them.

 

"Just finish signing here and there's a four dollar fee and then Stumpy's all yours," She grinned over their shoulders while they signed. The children were clustered around the puppy, filling the reception area with over excited chatter. 

 

"Well that turned out much, much better than I thought it would." Charles said as he bid farewell to Kitty and walked back towards the van next to Erik.

 

"I'll say ..." Erik said. He watched over his shoulder, holding out a hand for Lorna to take. The other three all held on to the leash as the newest member of the family walked along beside them. For all the dog walked a bit oddly, it didn't slow him down one bit. He was energetic and happy ... and honestly the fact that all four of the children were pleased made this all well worth it. He leaned in and gave Charles a quick little kiss before unlocking the van. It was going to be an interesting few days ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, a third update in quick succession! I promise they won’t always be so fast … We just got really lazy with the editing and ended up editing a few chapters at once. Be on the look out for new stuff from us soonly. 
> 
> As always, Sapphire as Charles Xavier and Major as Erik Lehnsherr. We share the kids obviously.

**Author's Note:**

> We accidentally made another AU. We shouldn’t be allowed to do this, honestly. We chatted about this and chatted some more and eventually our chatting spun out of control into this incredibly detailed AU. We’ll be posting this sporadically. Chapters will NOT be in chronological order but we will always be posting the date with stories for reference! 
> 
> As always, Sapphire as Charles Xavier and Major as Erik Lehnsherr.


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